Bundesvision 2012 Contestants Announced

I've been buried in work lately, so I'm probably reporting old news.  That having been said, the competing songs for the 2012 Bundesvision Song Contest have been announced.  The actual contest will be held on Friday, September 28 at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin.  Unlike last year, when I crapped out half way through, I will try to review all of this year's songs. In fact, to help keep me motivated, I would love to hear your opinions on this year's songs.

This year's entrants are:

Baden-Würtemberg: Xavas (Xavier Naddoo and Kool Savas) with Und ich schau nicht mehr zurück

Bavaria:  Fiva & Das Phantom Orchester with Die Stadt gehört wieder mir

Berlin:  B-Tight with Drinne

Brandenburg:  Mellow Mark feat. Nina Maleika with Bleib bei mir

Bremen:  Schné with Alles aus Liebe

Hamburg:  König Boris with Häuserwand

Hesse:  Cris Cosmo with Herzschlag

Lower Saxony:  Ich Kann Fliegen with Mich kann nur Liebe retten

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:  The Love Bülow with Nie mehr

North Rhine-Westphalia:  Luxuslärm with Liebt sie Dich wie ich?

Rhineland-Palatinate:  Pickers with 1000 Meilen

Saarland:  Die Orsons feat. Cro with Horst & Monika

Saxony:  Laing with Morgens immer müde

Saxony-Anhalt:  Johanna Zeul with Sandmann

Schleswig-Holstein:  Vierkanttretlager with Fotoalbum

Thuringia:  Maras April with Himmel aus Eis

I will start listening to these songs now.  I will start writing reviews as soon as I can find some time.

Bundesvision 2010 Preview

For us fans of German popular music, the Bundesvision Song Contest is always an enjoyable showcase of some of Germany's best (or at least most marketable) popular music. Because the current year's show is always hosted by the winner of the previous year's show, Berlin's Max-Schmeling-Halle will be hosting Bundesvision on October 1 (Peter Fox of Berlin won last year with Schwarz zu blau.

I don't want to go into too much detail about Bundesvision (for more info go here), but if you have never heard of it, I'll give you a quick rundown of the structure. Each of Germany's 16 states contributes a song from one of its residents as selected by local radio stations. When each song is presented, the German public can then vote for their favorite. The primary rule is that each nominated song must be at least partially in the German language.

As most Americans have never heard of the Bundesvision Song Contest, and particularly as most Americans have never heard any of the nominated bands, I wanted to provide a preview of each entry, and give my unsolicited opinion of which entry I think should win. Over the next few days/weeks, I will dedicate a post to each of the 16 nominated songs. At the very end, I will wrap it all up with my choice of winner. I also hope that any readers who see these posts will also chime in with your favorite(s). When the actual results come back from Germany in October, we can then compare our opinions with how Germany at large feels.